Buckle up, you’re blessed

Antidotes to the "Nashville Statement" If you missed it in the midst of the hurricanes, a bunch of fundamentalist Christians put out the “Nashville Statement” at the end of August, attacking LGBTQ people. This is nothing new, but it comes at a time when other attacks have been leveled against the LGBTQ community—and this can make it particularly scary and damaging. (If you’re not a reader of long blog posts, please scroll to the video below in the seat belt section and watch that. It will make you smile and feel wonder, joy, blessing or all three.) I was a young reporter for an LGBTQ paper in the 1990s when the ex-gay movement was strong and vocal. It frightened and confused me to see these people so adamant not only that their religion prohibited homosexuality but that they could “cure” it. This wasn’t at all my experience of religion or the Sacred. You have to go through a lot of contortions to get from a loving God who teaches compassion to the ex-gay movement. And now we’re there again, so I’m adding my voice to the loud chorus of religious and spiritual people pointing out that the “Nashville Statement” is not about religion nor